Our love of single use plastic products, for the enormous benefits and convenience they bring to our everyday lives, has unfortunately resulted in massive accumulation of plastic waste in the environment. With approximately 380 million tons of plastic produced annually, there is an estimated 10 million tons of it leaking into the oceans each year, reaching even the most remote locations like the Marianas trench. Unless drastic steps are taken, it is predicted that plastic waste will outweigh fish in the ocean by 2050. Campaigns to reduce waste generation are important, and regulations are increasing, but changing human behavior is difficult, and sustainably-sourced degradable bioplastics can offer a promising contribution to solving the global plastic crisis. My research in the Wooley laboratory at Texas A&M focuses on developing inexpensive, green, and efficient synthetic techniques to transform agricultural waste and other renewable resources into suitable monomers for the manufacture of polymers that will degrade after the end of their useful lifetime, thereby regenerating the natural monomer building blocks. The development of this technology has resulted in the formation of two startup ventures, Sugar Plastics, LLC and Teysha Technologies, LTD. Teysha currently holds exclusive licenses on two patents covering our AggiePol<sup>TM</sup> technology, a bioplastic platform capable of producing materials suitable for a wide range of applications, and is actively engaged in sponsored research at Texas A&M. This synergistic approach, combining the strengths of world class academic researchers and a talented and experienced business team has allowed for the rapid advancement of the platform technology to meet the needs of various potential commercial partners.

Solving the global plastic crisis: Translation of academic research to real world solutions

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.